Hello there!

I am a 23 British guy teaching Japanese and English in Chaiyaphum province. I work here through a Thai agency (sighs) and have a few questions just to clarify what is a legal requirment and what is purely another money spinner for my agency.

I headed to Laos on May 9th to apply for NIB visa for a school in Khorat province, all was well and I was notified that I had 90 days to report to my local immigration office etc. For one reason or another the school in Khorat didn't work out and I requested a change of school to Chaiyaphum. The agency obliged but informed me that my visa would no longer be valid as it is only registered to a particular school (I believe the school name is handwritten above my visa).

So now the time has come to head back to Laos to repeat the process at a cost of 6,000 baht...So my questions are:-

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Is there no way I could go to my local employment/immigration office in Kohn Kaen and explain the situation?

Is it not possible to obtain a NIB visa within Thailand?

Any advice appreciated!

If on your original 90 day entry, there is no need to get a new visa or leave the country. Only when you are on an extension of stay from immigration do you need to leave the country.

You can just apply for a work permit with your new employer and after that get an extension of stay from immigration.

Edit:

typo of 30 days corrected in 90 days, see below comment

Think a 'typo' there, Mario

He's on a 90 day Non-Imm B Visa entry.

Also, he's not working for a new employer, just that his agency, for whom he works, has allocated him to another school - as least as I read the OP.

The odd point is that the Thai consular office in Laos, apparently, wrote the name of the original school he was working for above the Non-Imm B Visa.

Suspect this would only be a problem if the agency intend to arrange an annual extension on the entry (immigration may question why the workplace is different),

or perhaps when he goes to renew his visa after 90 days the Thai embassy may query the place of work.

This may be why the agency want him to get a new visa (with the name of the new school written above it?) to prevent a future problem.

Of course, his work permit would also have to show the correct place of employment.

Edited June 28, 201115 yr by Ginkas